"Clout" comes back

According to AllAccess, "Hollywood Clout! with Richard Greene" has been resurrected and will continue via independent syndication. The show will air weeknights 9-10ET.

WCPT Chicago is the first station to pick up the show.

The show left the airwaves following the demise of syndicator Air America last month, and is one of several from the network to live on. "Ring Of Fire" moved to Westwood One and Nicole Sandler is offering her show via webcast and independent syndication.

"Hollywood Clout!" does not have its own website thus far, but can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Breaking news, fun and frivolity, always on LTR's Twitter Page. If you have Twitter, please follow.

Yet another semi-manic Monday

Here's a little of what's happening today...

"Clout" goes celeb-crazy

Air America calls the concept "Pollywood" (the intersection between politics and Hollywood). And now, they're beefing up the weeknight show "Hollywood CLOUT!" with the permanent addition of 10 celebrities to its weekly line-up. According to AAM, "these celebrities, chosen for their depth of knowledge and commitment to political, environmental, social and spiritual issues and their unique perspectives, will add their comments via The Hollywood CLOUT! Hotline or serve as co-hosts with Richard Greene, live on air during the 9-11P ET (6-8P PT) time slot."

Here's the lowdown:

Mondays:

Peter Coyote comments on what the Progressive political community must do in the Age of Obama
Heather Mills comments on lifestyle, health, vegetarian and animal rights issues, and how to fleece aging rock stars... oops, sorry for the editorial content.

Tuesdays:

"Hollywood CLOUT! Think Tank" Executive Director Noah Wyle co-hosts with Richard and discusses the news of the day

DL Hughley and his "DL Minute" bring humor to the issues of the day

Wednesdays:

Billy Baldwin (as opposed to his crazy wingnut brother Steve) co-hosts with Richard and discusses the news of the day

"The L Word" star Mia Kirschner talks about social justice and international issues

Thursdays:

Fran Drescher comments on women and other issues

Bai Ling brings her unique international and spiritual perspectives

Fridays:

James Cromwell adds his sage commentary on politics and lifestyle

A different musical or comedic star joins for "Friday Music Night" or "Friday Comedy Night".

Friday, July 17 - Jon Lovitz
Friday, July 24 - Trumpeter Chris Botti
Friday, July 31 - Alanis Morrissette

So there you have it.

Cullen to launch web show

Lynn Cullen has been a long-time Pittsburgh radio fixture and a moneymaker for WPTT (1360) before it changed formats last year. Her current station, WAMO (860), is set to soon flip to a Catholic format. Now, enter another local station. The Frischling family of Pittsburgh, owners of WLTJ and the Pittsburgh City Paper alt-weekly, has approached Cullen about doing a mid-morning online show.

The show will air live 10-11am and can be downloaded any time after that, starting August 18.

Webb killer gets 20 years

The mentally ill man who killed former Seattle talk-show host Mike Webb with an ax in 2007 was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.

The sentence of Scott Brian White, 29, was 10 years more than the defense attorney asked for and eight years more than even the prosecutor asked for. The judge considered the plea agreement submitted by the prosecutor, but imposed a stiffer sentence for second-degree murder, downgraded from first due to his mental condition and drug use, suggesting that the murder wasn't premeditated.

After being missing for several months in 2007, Webb's decomposed body was discovered under his house in June of that year. White confessed to killing him soon afterward.

Funny, I remember when they'd lock up the murderers and throw away the key.

New portable HD Radio hits market

The much-beleaguered HD Radio technology has gotten a significant boost, as a new affordable and portable device hits the marketplace.

It's a portable radio capable of receiving HD Radio signals, and it is available at Best Buy stores via their Insignia in-house brand.

The unit is the has a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, an armband, and the ability to store 10 pre-set stations. And at $49.95, the price is at least reasonable. Plus, with a device like this, perhaps it wouldn't be unreasonable for radio stations to use them as giveaways.

Sure, HD Radio has a ways to go before it shows any hope of being a factor in the industry. Let's face it, it isn't an iPod. But with devices such as this, it sure does seem like they're going in the right direction.

A peek inside XM's retooled 'America Left'

Come Monday, fans of XM's Air America channel (ch. 167) will notice quite a few changes, as they ditch the Air America moniker and return to the original name, America Left.

After several weeks of speculation, XM has quietly unveiled their new lineup, with a few notable additions and a few subtractions as well. One theme that carries throughout is their attempt to air as many shows as possible by cutting off an hour on several of them. Unfortunately, they didn't go for my idea of setting up several devoted progressive talk channels. Yet.

First, Bill Press remains from the old lineup, but gets an hour shaved off. You can find him 6-8A ET.

The Young Turks, formerly of Sirius and Air America, return to the weekday radio grind after airing exclusively online since January. The new show, airing on America Left weekday mornings 8-10 ET, will actually be a replay of their online show from the night before (which will air 9-11P). At least the gang will be able to sleep in, given that they're based in California, and would otherwise be up very early in the morning to do their morning thing.

Stephanie Miller fans will be happy to hear that her show finally makes it to the XM satellites. She will air in truncated form from 10A-noon.

One personality who's show will not get sliced up is Ed Schultz, who will air live from noon to 3P. Ditto for Randi Rhodes, who's three hour show will follow in its entirety.

Rachel Maddow will air on America Left in truncated form, from 6-8P. Unfortunately, that means listeners will get that obnoxious MSNBC screaming pundits show that makes up the first hour of her show.

Thom Hartmann is still on XM, but only two hours of his show will air on delay, from 8-10P. As with many Air America affiliates these days, he'll get a replay from 4-6A.

In the late night hours, Mike Malloy comes on from 10P-midnight, followed by Air America's Clout from midnight to 2A and Jon Elliot in two hour form from 2-4A.

Speaking of XM, the proposed merger with Sirius, which was rumored many times to have been consummated by now, is still plodding along. In the most recent development, 16 state attorneys general have come out and criticized the merger, and are also on board the bandwagon that favors leasing part of the combined satellite radio spectrum to outside programmers.

Stuff I missed while sleeping

Been a while, huh?

Yeah, I took a little time off. A week to be exact. In doing a blog such as this, I feel it is a wise idea to back away from it once in a while and recharge my engines. I'll even go so far as to go out into the real world. So, please do not be alarmed if this place gets a little quiet once in a while. All in all, it makes for a much better reading experience overall.

And no, I wasn't sleeping, but I thought it would make for a cool article title.

So, in the meantime, Dan Rather grew a set and rightfully filed suit against his former bosses at CBS, Bill O'Reilly realized he couldn't make a go of radio, O.J. Simpson switched from knives to guns in his hunt for the real killers er his sports mementos, and Congressional Democrats wimped out and rolled over as the Republicans turned their war on free speech into a wedge issue in condemning the recent MoveOn.org criticism on General Petraeus. And in this little corner of the world...

First on the agenda is a big story/non-story from last week, this one concerning Cenk Uyger of Air America's The Young Turks (or is that The Young Turk, since everybody else left?). He claims Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert stole a joke from him and used it on The Colbert Report, and, just like O.J. Simpson bum-rushing a sports memorabilia swap meet with guns-a-blazin, he's out for blood. Well, okay, $65 million. I was really tempted to make mention of this last week, but it all reeks of a silly publicity stunt.

And what was the joke? Something about Klingons. Yes, you heard that right - Klingons! Sorry, but a Klingon joke isn't worth 65 cents, let alone $65 mil. Cenk's obviously a sharp guy, and I just wished he could come up with a better publicity stunt. Hiring Mike Stark was a cool move. This, unfortunately, is not.

Hey, people crib my shit all the time. All I ask is a return link and the whole 'fair use' thing. But if anyone wants to kick $65 mil my way, contact me and we'll talk.

Radio listeners in Washington, DC, saddled by the horrible signal and questionable programming moves of local progressive talker WWRC, now have another option. In this overcrowded talk radio market, the newly reformatted WWWT (3WT) is mixing it up a bit after ending its "Washington Post Radio" endeavor. This new talk station pledges to carry conservative, liberal, middle-of-the-road and nonpolitical talk. We already knew that Stephanie Miller's show, currently on WWRC, would be joining the station. Well, that's forthcoming. In the meantime, Air America's Randi Rhodes is part of the station's lineup in afternoon drive, 4-7P ET. WWRC does not currently carry her show, but does carry other programs from Air America. And ESPN's Tony Kornheiser, who hosts a pretty good nonpolitical show (when he's actually on, of course) that isn't really about sports, is on weekday mornings. Of course, tuning in for progressive talk options also means occasionally tuning in for the likes of Bill O'Reilly (until his show buys the farm), Neal Boortz and eventually Glen Beck. But hey, at least they have a great signal. And are on both AM and FM, on 50,000 watt 1500AM in Washington (with a signal reaching Baltimore), 107.7FM in Northeastern Virginia and 820AM in Fredrick, MD. Should be interesting to watch.

Many people have emailed me about the recent changes to Air America's schedule. As stated before, The Air Americans has crashed and burned. Replacing it is Richard Greene's "Every Breath You Take" er Clout. The show airs from 8-10P ET. Following it is now Jon Elliot's show, followed by a repeat of the previous day's Lionel show. But wait - wasn't Bree Walker supposed to get a show on Air America? Well, that was the original line. But evidently, that did not come to fruition, for reasons nobody really knows, including me. She still has her weekend show on KTLK (1150AM) in Los Angeles.

Progressive talk station KOKE (1600AM) in Austin will soon be under new ownership. The station, along with two other local AM stations owned by Border Media Properties, will be sold to Jose J. Garcia for $5.5 million. BMP will keep their five FM stations in the market. No word on what this means for the future of KOKE. It could be nothing.

And remember KOMY? That little AM station outside of Santa Cruz owned by the rather colorful Zwerling family? The same ones that added Air America programming to the station and spent more time trying to kill it and threaten to remove it than actually try to make it work? Well, the Zwerlings are hanging it up. Michael Zwerling announced that they're cashing in their chips and selling both KOMY (which now programs a golden oldies format) and conservotalk station KSCO.

I do have to confess. After writing the final "pulling the plug" article, Zwerling himself sent me an email, and actually had a good laugh as I ripped him a new one. I gotta say, I respect him for that. And in the day and age of bland, corporate radio, perhaps a few eccentric local broadcast owners, no matter how irritating they can be, is overall a good thing. Best of luck to Michael and his mother Kay in their future endeavors. It's been a ride, I'll say that much.

And as a change of pace, I will open up the comments below in this article to an open thread. Normally, a common pet peeve of mine is when posters go off topic on an article to post their own stuff (such as the cut-and-paste astroturf jobs by our resident freeper, raccoonradio). You know, stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the article. In this instance, and this instance only, post whatever you want in this article, and this thread only. Got a scoop? A rant? Whatever, just add a comment below. All I ask is no flame wars, no personal attacks, etc. Keep it rational, kids.

"The Air Americans" are grounded

In a not-so-surprising move, Air America Radio is ditching The Air Americans.

The New York Daily News is reporting that the two-month old show will be dropped by the network, and replaced with two new shows. Taking its place is longtime broadcaster and Air America weekend host Richard Greene and KTLK Los Angeles weekend host, TV anchorwoman and Texas ranchland owner Bree Walker. Green will take the 8-10PM ET slot, with Walker's new show will air 10PM to Midnight ET. The moves will be effective September 4.

Mark Riley, the devoted host of The Air Americans who has been with the network since the very beginning, has also gotten the axe. Air America president Mark Green indicated it was largely a financial decision to release Riley, an original network host.

In other moves at the network, All Access reports that four more staff members out of the existing 48 are being released. "We are continuing to cut costs and consolidate functions as we dramatically reduce our expenses and move toward profitability," said Green. "I'm especially grateful to Mark Riley, who has been an exemplary and loyal Air American since the very start of the network three years ago. From Mark and his producer Ron Dodd to the four staff members, all are consummate professionals who have done their jobs exceedingly well. Air America's commitment to continuously lower costs does not reflect at all on their skills and contributions."

When The Air Americans was announced as a show back in May, there wasn't a whole lot of enthusiasm for it from listeners. Basically, the concept of the show was radio host gumbo, various Air America personalities thrown together and allowed to simmer for four hours every night. Riley was the ringmaster, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Mike Papantonio, David Bender and Laura Flanders were also thrown into the mix. And that's about it.

As could be expected, they didn't find many affiliates to pick it up. WXXM in Madison and KOKE in Austin were among the most notable. Air America's own flagship station, Access.1-owned WWRL took a pass, opting to rerun their locally-produced morning show in the slot. XM Radio decided to time shift the show to the wee hours of the night. The show was a non-starter.

First of all, at a time when many of the network affiliates were working to establish their own identities, apart from Air America. No way in hell were they going to carry a show called The Air Americans. In addition, many affiliates use the evening time slot to time shift daytime programming, such as Ed Schultz, Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartmann. Some air local programming or non-Air America shows like Nova M Radio's Mike Malloy. And offering a four hour show is asking a bit much, when affiliates are more willing to go with 2-3 hour shows, which are easier to slot.

So, how will the new kids fare? Greene is an established broadcaster and professional speaker, with a lot of experience in public radio. He should add a bit of professional polish to the network. Walker also has a great deal of experience, and this move could placate relations with their Los Angeles affiliate, though it is not known yet if and when KTLK will carry her, which airs in the same time slot as the time-delayed Ed Schultz show. I'm guessing they will.

No word on the fate of the show's other hosts. Flanders, Kennedy and Papantonio all host weekend shows. This move will leave Bender, former host of the network's Politically Direct, without one. Tonight's The Air Americans will be guest-hosted by WXXM's Lee Rayburn.

Talking Radio has more.